


Red Winter

by zandral



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bat Family, Child Abuse, Mental Abuse, Multi, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Service Dogs, no child gets hurt in this story but it's mentioned, pre story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 18:31:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2478245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zandral/pseuds/zandral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Look kid, Steve saw you pass 3 days in a row exactly at 7 in the morning, and I see you at 4 the same three days. You’re either a fan boy or someone who’s got shit happening to them.” </p>
<p>Not everyone comes back from the dead, and those who do are left with wounds that take ages to heal, if they ever do. It helps to have someone to lean on though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Winter

**Author's Note:**

> This is all thunderboltsortofapenny's fault. I normally hate anything to do with Batman, but then she talks about Jason and I'm hooked. So then we combined Jason with Bucky and all hell broke lose in my mind. The story is placed 8 months after the hellicarrier incident and even though I know many people would say that Bucky would take more than that to really recover, I have taken some liberties with this story on that front. Nothing too extreme though, and in later chapters, like the next or 3rd one, will touch on Buckys recovery in more depth. This story will have mentions of child abuse, extreme violence, and mental abuse. I will give warnings when it is very heavy in the chapter, but every chapter mentions one of those things at least alludes to them.

Being in the nation’s capital and finding little things about the city that reminded him of home was both comforting and upsetting to the 23 year old Jason Todd. Looking at the vendors and busy streets from his alleyway on 19th street, the young man slowly crouched down to rest for a moment. He had hitched hiked over to the city almost a week ago, hearing the news of what happened with SHIELD through word of mouth and newspapers, Though the event happened more than 8 months before Jasons’ arrival into the city, he had been on business dealing with a psychotic killer out west and couldn’t get away.

_Never work with SHIELD Jason, they’re only goal it to protect themselves._

Jason blinked back the memory of Bruce bitching about the fallen agency, taking a deep breath to steady himself before going on patrol around the block before coming back here. He had no contacts in Washington and the money in his pocket was to be used for food and basic supplies until he could safely get to his other accounts. His old keeper had started to track a few of the most often used accounts the young man had, and until he got to a bank, or a reliable computer to reroute the money, he was stuck with what he had on hand.

Walking out of his alleyway, the man flipped up the collar of his leather jacket, dusting off some of the mud that was stuck on it from sitting down before walking his route. First he got a hotdog from Carl, who talked about his son going into law school and how he and his husband were so proud of the boy, and then he went to the corner of the block where Captain America lived before turning the corner and making his way back to the alleyway. It wasn’t the best plan he’s had, but with little resources Jason had to make due.

 Everyone knew that the main person to get the credit for taking down Hydra’s plan was Captain America himself, a super that was second in the Wayne ‘Never go near’ list. The first being Iron Man, but that was mainly because he was the only billionaire that ever beat Bruce in a Magazine top 100 list.

To Jason, that was never a problem growing up with Bruce. Gotham supers tended to stay in Gotham, evil or not, while the other Supers mostly stayed in their own areas as well. End of the World things were fixed by the supers who were on hand and present at the time, otherwise it could get confusing, someone may not know the entire story, and an innocent ends up dead by mistaken allegiance. Learning this at a young age, Jason knew which cities had the most active supers and the least, making it easier for him to run away from Bruce’s allies.

Getting to the Captains place as he walked along his route, finishing his hotdog and throwing the trash away in a dumpster, the man observed the area. The same elderly people who garden three buildings away from the Captains home where picking tomatoes today, bickering about how best to deal with the bugs trying to eat them. A mother was watching her children and a few of the other kids on the street playing on the sidewalk, giving Jason a cautious glance before looking away, and as he neared the Captains home, a man wearing a navy colored hoodie was sitting on the steps leading up the entrance while watching Jason. He was smoking a cigarette, looking at the former sidekick with a steady gaze, observing him without any anger or irritation.

Bucky Barnes was different from his the pictures Jason’s old history books portrayed him as, his hair long and his face more haunted than in the black and white photos of years past. The younger man looked down and started walking away, thinking that tomorrow he’ll be on the opposite side of the street so he wouldn’t be so noticeable to the man.  He knew, because of the leaked files, who this man was during the Hydra attack. It was why he came to Washington in the first place. This man was thought to be dead, was dead, and now was walking among the living once more. It hit too close to home for the young man, and so he wanted to see the newest member of the ‘Not Dead’ club.

“Six.” The older man said as Jason walked pass. Stopping just past the man, Jason looked over his shoulder at him, seeing that the man was still looking ahead and smoking the cigarette. Taking one more drag from the thing before crushing the ember out and making sure it was safe to tuck the rest in his breast pocket for later, the former assassin looked down at the cement as he talked. “If you want to see Steve, the man gets back from the Vets center  at six. If you’re lookin for a fight, better come back a half past that. He sometimes needs to take a bit after helping Sam out to breath, ya know?”

Blinking, Jason turned his whole body to look at the man on the steps now. “I wasn’t, I’m not looking for a fight with him, or you.” He clarified, picking at his nails. Bucky looked up at him now with a raised eyebrow silently asking for more information. It was clear to Jason that the man figured out that he had been patrolling the area for a few days now. They were veterans of WW2, Jason should have been better about this, but the nights in the alleyway and weeks before that of cramped spaces in bus stops must have taken its toll already. That and he didn’t expect the man who he was wondering over to be so, if he had to put a word on it, calm. 

Before he could say another word, Bucky stood up from his spot and looked at the young man from the steps. Both hands in his jeans, he gave a little shrug before looking at the entrance. “Or you can come at seven for dinner. We eat late because Captain Pain in the Ass forgets when normal people eat dinner, but you’re welcome to come.”

“You don’t even know me.” Jason told the man, only too late how lame and angst that sounded. He had a horrible backstory, yeah but that was no reason to act like an 8th grader in the man’s eyes. Jason tended to try to forget the past while awake, busying himself with tasks that hopefully make his sleep dreamless. Unfortunately hysterical laughter almost always woke him up in cold sweats no matter what he tried.

Rolling his eyes, the older man looked down at Jason with a smirk tugging at his lips. “Look kid, Steve saw you pass 3 days in a row exactly at 7 in the morning, and I see you at 4 the same three days. You’re either a fan boy or someone who’s got shit happening to them.” Bucky explained, walking up the stairs to his and Captain America’s apartment. “Now come on back at 7. I’m making lasagna.”

Jason stood still as he watched the soldier shut the door before he booked it back to his alleyway, breathing heavy and shocked about how normal that conversation was. It wasn’t as if the man didn’t look like he was still battling his demons, but to be so calm about it.

_Was that how it could have been if he had Bruce to rely on back then? Or anybody?_

Jason got to his alleyway and sat down in the mud, breathing hard and holding his head against his knees, trying to keep it together as the flashbacks flickered through his mind. He saw Bruce throwing him in the asylum, not trying to help him. It was his job to fix himself.

At 7 Jason stayed in his alleyway letting the cold night air slowly surround him, the night sounds echoing in his mind turning to crazed laughter as he fell into a restless sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Also! Beta is wanted!! I would love someone who could look at a chapter at least once a week, Bi-weekly would be even better as I tend to want to edit a chapter while working on another, and I write fairly quickly.


End file.
